The hard drive to student growth: An Idaho district discovers how computerized testing helps foster continuous student improvement

School Administrator, April, 2002 by Linda Clark

For years, our school district relied on state-mandated standardized tests to assess student learning. Then it became obvious that although student achievement scores seemed impressive, we were not measuring real student growth.

For us, author E. M. Forster's assessment of education (which first appeared in The Observer, a London newspaper, in 1951) coincided with our own traditional perspective of testing methods: "Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon."

Student scores on standardized tests don't necessarily assess true academic growth. Rather, they gauge student progress by comparing students' achievement with that of their peers. As a result, underachieving students' test scores may indicate they are doing well when actually, because they are being compared to other underachievers, they may not be growing academically at all.

That's why the 25,000-student Meridian, Idaho, School District has taken what some consider revolutionary steps during the past four years to ensure our testing process leads to more effective teaching, more substantive learning and more successful, confident students. We set out to answer the question: How can we tell if we're fostering continuous improvement in each of our students?

Driving Decisions

Our first order of business was to implement a comprehensive districtwide assessment program that could produce the solid data we needed to develop and drive our school improvement plans.

We looked for an assessment program that was curriculum-based so we could test what was being taught. We wanted a program that would measure student growth toward meeting standards and provide us with reliable data that we could use to guide our instruction. We also wanted a way to ensure internal and external accountability and to clearly communicate student progress to educators, students, parents and the community.

The Northwest Evaluation Association's paper-and-pencil achievement-level test met all of our established criteria. The pre-developed tests are built around nationally recognized standards in mathematics, reading and language arts and provide information about academic growth and student learning.

After enthusiastic buy-in from teachers who readily saw the advantage of assessment tied to the actual curriculum, we began with a spring pilot study of 6,000 students in grades 3-8 in reading, language arts and math and expanded the program by implementing the testing districtwide in grades 3-8 the following fall. During the next year, the assessment program expanded to include grades 3-8 science and high school end-of-course tests in reading, science and mathematics.

Meridian schools are using the data from the level tests to develop building improvement plans that are targeted to student achievement, and teachers are using the data to plan and evaluate their instruction. Data also provide parents with a clear indication of their child's achievement in relationship to the district expectations and help them to monitor student growth over time.

Based on the quality and nature of the data we received through the level testing program, the district requested and was granted a testing waiver from the state board of education and the NWEA achievement-level testing program replaced the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in grades 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10.

"The experience with the paper-and-pencil level tests has been very positive," says middle school mathematics teacher Theresa Tooman. "Our district, individual schools, teachers and parents now have access to data that are changing many aspects of education in our district."

Personalizing Assessment

The paper-and-pencil testing presented a few minor problems, however. For example, we still needed a separate locator test to determine which level of test was appropriate for each child, and since the locator was not finely tuned to provide exact performance levels, retesting was sometimes necessary.

These concerns, which coincided with our need to revise the paper-and-pencil tests to reflect the district's new standards-based curriculum, encouraged us to look to NWEA for a better solution.

In the spring of 2000, we became one of the first districts in the nation to adopt a computerized version of NWEA's achievement-level tests for grades 3-12. Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, is an Internet-enabled testing system that removes grade-level barriers and measures individual growth in specific subjects.

Our initial focus was on mathematics and reading. Throughout the summer, we trained our staff in how to use MAP effectively (see related story, page 27). By fall, we began pilot testing the program in eight elementary schools. By the spring of 2001, MAP was fully implemented in all 22 elementary schools.

The keys to MAP's effectiveness are its efficiency, flexibility and measurement precision. Prior to the testing, the administrator links to NWEA via the Internet to download student data from previous testing. The educator then can administer assessments customized to each student's achievement level.